The University of Western Sydney gave 3000 iPads to new students on Wednesday as part of its strategy to attract more students in the increasingly competitive higher ­education field.

With a pool of about 250,000 new undergraduate students nationwide enrolling in courses commencing in first semester this year, UWS is a leader in using innovative marketing strategies to win these students.

Not only is every new student ­getting an iPad, but the university has run a successful campaign to ­persuade students to enrol early for 2013.

UWS has nearly 4000 new students enrolled for this year compared with about 1000 at a similar time last year, according to the pro-vice-chancellor for students, Angelo Kourtis.

“We are working in a very competitive environment," he said. “By doing this we found the take-up rate [of offers] was quite high."

UWS started by writing to ­potential students in early December telling those who met the university’s criteria that they were eligible for an early offer to study at UWS. As a result, the number of school-leavers who put UWS as their first preference rose 60 per cent to 7000.

The university offered them the chance to come to the campus in early January, find out whatever they needed to know, and enrol in their course.

“We had nearly 4000 enrol over two days on the 4th and 5th of January," Mr Kourtis said.

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On Wednesday this week most of these students were able to pick up their new iPads, the first of 9000 that are expected to be delivered to new students in coming weeks.

The federal government’s decision to dramatically expand the number of students in higher education by removing the caps on student ­numbers that previously applied to individual universities and individual courses has made higher education more competitive.

Last year was the first time universities were able to enrol as many ­students as met the entry criteria, which resulted in nearly all students who applied getting a place.

Now, universities are having to compete harder for the available ­students.

Last March the president of Universities Australia, Melbourne University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis, said: “For individual institutions to go on growing at this rate, they must win students from each other. Australia’s universities have been set on the path to fierce competition."

Professor Davis warned that amalgamation or closure would be the result of universities failing to attract sufficient students.

Even elite universities, which have no trouble attracting students, are joining the competitive race.

The Australian National University increased the number of early offers it made this year to 936 from 299 last year. Many ANU students, attracted by the university’s reputation, come from other cities and need time to relocate and arrange accommodation.

Acting vice-chancellor Erik Lithander said that in order to be more “user friendly" the university was making early offers to an increasing number of new students.

“It’s a response to the increased competition out there. We recognise that we need to reciprocate the strong interest the top students are showing in us and give them a few weeks extra notice by giving them an early offer," he said.

ANU has used the early offers to win students to its prestige undergraduate courses, the Bachelor of Philosophy – available only to those with an ATAR of over 99 combining a bachelor degree with research – and the new “vertical double" degrees which combine a bachelor and a masters degree, reducing the total study period by six months.